While the river’s finest SUP athletes gather in Vail Colorado for the GoPro Mountain Games and the world’s best flatwater racers converge in San Sabastian, Spain for the sixth stop of the Euro Tour, the seeming remainder of SUP’s top athletes are gracing Southern California’s shores for the 7th annual Tommy Bahama Paddleboard Race and Ocean Festival this weekend. With both reigning champs—Mo Freitas and Shae Foudy—contending alongside a hardy collection of SUP’s elite ocean racer including Slater Trout, Dave Boehne, Lexi Alston and Candice Appleby, this surf race promises to be just as action-packed as any SUP event this weekend.

Freitas is already onsite practicing for tomorrow’s races, and he reports that conditions are prime.

“It's fun, sandbars are good right now,” Freitas says. “There are some waves and it’s picking up later this week, but for the event it's going to be kind of small.”

Small surf still makes for great contention, and the eager mass of hungry world-class racers is expected to mix things up for an impressive show.

“I'm holding the title from last year, so I'm hoping to keep holding onto it,” Freitas says. “But’s going to be a stacked field this year. There are tons of good guys and girls.”

Tommy Bahama’s Santa Monica event isn’t called a festival for nothing; there’s also music, food and other entertainment at the pier this weekend.

"The celebration of both paddling and lifeguarding history at this event is really cool," said competitor and organizer Anthony Vela. "It's not just the racing, but rather the music, festivities and history that gives this festival such an energetic vibe."